At BMW, the future has begun-German Enterprise Industry 4.0 Series.

When buying a car in China, BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi) is the first choice for B-class cars. Harald Kruger, CEO of BMW, introduced in detail the value chain movement brought about by the change of the future relationship between human and machinery in Industry 4.0.

The fourth industrial revolution is just around the corner, at least that's what the German government firmly believed when it proposed Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 not only refers to the improvement of industrial automation, but also includes the Internet of Things system, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the interconnection between the virtual and the real world in manufacturing. BMW Group has played a very active role in promoting Industry 4.0 by participating in a series of research projects in this field by the German government. These include an information physical production system that improves productivity and flexibility by integrating factory intelligent systems, and ReApp that promotes flexible automation solutions based on robots.

Whether it is BMW's newly-built digital factory in Leipzig in 2005 or the new Datong factory completed in Shenyang in 20 17, the whole automobile industry value chain from raw materials to finished products still has unlimited potential. In the process of developing i3 and i8, BMW has continuously improved its production technology by using carbon fiber material again and again. In industrial production, product innovation is often accompanied by innovation in production technology. The biggest benefit brought by Industry 4.0 to process innovation is to shorten the cycle from development to listing of new products.

BMW explained the strategy of OEM in Industry 4.0: With the closer connection between digital and real world, new opportunities are enabling people to cooperate more. BMW recognizes that Industry 4.0 can realize these opportunities ahead of schedule, which is why BMW participates in government research projects.

In order to ensure that the company can quickly carry out research in this field, BMW has established a series of internal technical projects in several factories in Germany and the United States. A recent and future example is the use of Google Glass in the analysis center of its factory in Fort Sparthan, South Carolina. The application of AR equipment is to find equipment defects as early as possible in prototype development.

In production, GoogleGlass's camera allows their quality supervisor to shoot relevant video reports, which is more accurate than simple handwritten reports. At the same time, these reports will be uploaded to BMW's server for engineers to inquire. This kind of recording equipment can help testers save a lot of time and improve efficiency. At present, BMW is perfecting the use of this technology so that it can be put into use in officially produced cars.

GoogleGlass is not the only content of Industry 4.0 in BMW. The most important thing is to use video shooting equipment in quality control. For example, BMW invested in a camera-related monitoring system pilot, so that workers can effectively and reliably check the quality of painting workshops and assembly workshops and ensure that they meet production requirements. According to BMW, these contents reduce the time consumption caused by staff moving between different websites and computers. The introduction of AR technology reflects the introduction of real world and virtual world in Industry 4.0. Hololens developed by Windows can directly project 3D modeling into the real world through AR devices. This is one of the reasons why the AR concept was so hot last year.

BMW also cooperated with the Flawn Hof Institute in Karlsruhe to develop a gesture recognition system. For example, if the quality personnel make a wiping gesture, it means that the equipment or parts can be assembled without problems. The gesture control system is very intuitive and convenient, and the training and hands-on time is very short, which further improves the efficiency. This technology has also been realized in BMW's new 7 series car. When driving, the 7 series can recognize gestures and perform simple operations such as music volume and song cutting. Let the driver realize a series of operations without leaving the road.

The quality management and control mentioned above are very important for any automobile manufacturer, but there are other contents in Industry 4.0. For example, BMW relies on big data to improve the efficiency of the Leipzig factory and how to better support production workers through mobile communication technology. They also use ergonomics to improve the working environment, for example, to reduce the burden on factory workers.

BMW plans to use "Big Data" to improve energy consumption by introducing Intelligent Energy Management Data System (iEMDS), which has been used to produce BMW X models. Based on smart meters, this system can continuously measure the energy consumption of production equipment and robots, and keep consistent with the "big data" network in the company center, and improve the energy consumption problem through data analysis. Spartacus has now installed intelligent sensors on more than 80 production equipment and robots.

The system has also been launched in Leipzig, regensburg, Munich and Lanshute, and it is planned to be implemented in more factories of BMW's global production network. The project is currently being carried out in 30 locations in 14 countries. BMW predicts that the implementation of iEMDS will save 25 million euros (about 30 million US dollars) in energy costs in the next decade. According to the company, the system has saved more than100,000 kwh of energy in one year since its start-up and operation.

For example, BMW has deployed robots that can cooperate with humans in the pilot project of its factory in Fort Sparthan, South Carolina, USA. The movements of these robots are well coordinated with the movements of employees, so that the products produced are more stable and will not collide with each other. In the process of internal assembly, people and robots will be found working side by side in a team, and there is no safety fence. Four cooperative robots provide sound insulation for the door of BMW X3. The innovation management production team of BMW Research and Innovation Center in Munich has done preliminary work for this futuristic cooperative robot application, which is a technology in cooperation with Universal Robots in Denmark. This way of improving production quality and stability through machine input is the direction that BMW believes that Industry 4.0 will develop. BMW believes that Industry 4.0 and automation are not a concept, and many jobs cannot be replaced by current machinery, so how to use technology to assist staff to stabilize quality and efficiency is the key point.

Within BMW, in addition to data analysis, Industry 4.0 is also used in intelligent logistics systems. BMW is using digital and innovative technologies to influence its entire value chain, from body stamping to final painting, from assembly to logistics, and every stage of production will benefit from the layout of Industry 4.0. For BMW, the future has begun.